On the recent trip to the UK I had a good look at ciders; perhaps the Tasmanian coming out as I have always enjoyed apples in any form and for years used to import and drink a lovely calvados made by Danflou. I purchased cider samples from supermarkets, drank the odd pint in pubs and visited a few farm shops in cider country.

There was another reason as well. Whatever happened to the thriving local cider business and why did we let it slide away? When I started retailing in
1975 it was big business and products like Lilydale (Nathan and Wyeth) and Mercury sold well. I suspect the paw of big business killed it like they did the local spirits business. By this I mean they never hold on through a dip in sales and read it as a signal that the consumer has moved on, and consumers do, but seldom forever and not with basic drinks. Fosters now report strong growth in ciders; fancy that.

So to the ciders depicted. The first day in the UK I began with a Dunkertons Premium Organic Cider, Pembridge, Herefordshire 6.8% which I approached with enthusiasm and the first sip went well but what is this, a spoilage problem, is this indeed the cider equivalent of Brett; yes it is and it's a big and nasty. Better was the Henneys Frome Valley, Herefordshire 6% but am I missing something here, flat, dull, what is this saying to me; where is the vibrant fruit or am I out of depth in a new culture, surely this is just a drink to be evaluated like any other. I must press ahead.

A change of countries to Sweden with a Rekorderlig Cider Sparkling 4.5% which is fruit juice with alcohol but in an Indian style restaurant was not so bad. This is industrial stuff, coca-cola cider, though could be fun at times I suppose. I turned to the Aspall Suffolk Cyder 7% which again left me with grave doubts about this cider business; where is the fruit and again I had problems with dirt. Worse was to come with a Luscombe Organic Devon Cider 4.9% Buckfastleigh, Devon, which made me gag. This is riddled with every bacterial, fungal problem that you can cram into a single bottle. I could not go past a few sips.

I took a trip to Evesham, Worcestershire allowing me to continue my exploration of cider. At the Dirty Duck, Strafford upon Avon, I tried Westons, Strawford Press, Herefordshire, a large producer and this was not too bad, a bit sweet, commercial and to me still tainted. Later at The Fleece Inn, Bretforton, a beautiful listed National Trust pub I drank a Thatchers Heritage 6% which was nice but I was still disturbed by the back palate dirt; then a Cheddar Valley 8% with a striking mid orange colour, very dry and most pleasing. These and most of the others are still ciders and belong in the scrumpy category.

Which brings me to the plastic milk container. My hosts pulled into a farm shop where they sell bulk cider from a barrel although this is delivered as needed by a local producer, Richard. To scare the tourists I was told Richard started the ferment (and add body?) with ox-tails and sometimes rat's tails hence the name Rouslench Rats Tail Cider. I tasted no sign of this but loved the sales build up. Apparently the addition of meat has a tradition. I'm not sure what the role of adding meat is all about but apparently it is still used though strikes me as most odd. A search on the web did find a few recipes calling for ground up mince.

Anyway this cider was very agreeable, rats and all, so I purchased a container and happily drank it on the train back to London. This to me is what a still cider should show; pale colour, identifiable fruit though this is a fermented product and exists as only shadow of the fresh fruit, a variety of aromas that are stimulating and interesting; dry palate again with noticeable fruit, a range of flavours keeping up drinking interest, and probably a textural finish like wine which in this case comes from the apple skins and I assume the pips. This cider showed all of this and was clean.
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